Courter’s Game Two Gem Highlights Baseball Split with Franklin & Marshall
Justin Lutes
LANCASTER, Pa. (March 23, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team split a pair of one-run games with Franklin & Marshall University on Saturday afternoon in Lancaster, Pa. Stevens dropped Game One, 4-3, but rebounded with a 3-2 victory in the nightcap to finish the double dip with an 8-4 overall record.
Game One: Franklin & Marshall 4, Stevens 3
In the first game of the doubleheader against the Diplomats, Stevens gave up three runs in the first two innings but answered with one of its own in the second and two more in the fourth to knot the game up at 3-3. Franklin & Marshall posted the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth and only allowed one hit by the Ducks in the final four frames.
Sophomore
Peirce Marston (Silver Spring, Md.) retired the first batter he faced in the bottom half of the first inning but walked two of the next three batters which led to both runs. A double in between the two free passes resulted in the second out after a runner was thrown out at third by sophomore
Brian Hennelly (Holbrook, N.Y.). Marston then surrendered a triple to right field which brought both runs across the plate and gave the Diplomats a 2-0 edge.
Stevens responded with three straight hits to lead off the second inning to tally its first run of the contest. Senior
Michael Donovan (Frisco, Texas) and freshman
Jayson Yano (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) both singled to start things off, and then Hennelly stroked an RBI base hit to plate Donovan. Yano was thrown out at third after a double-steal attempt and then the next two batters were retired to wrap up the top of the second.
F&M erased the run in the bottom half of the second on a double with two outs to take a 3-1 lead.
As the fifth inning rolled around, the Ducks knotted the contest up at 3-3. Yano singled and moved up to second on an error before consecutive wild pitches brought him home. Hennelly then drew a walk and moved up to second on a groundout. With two down, sophomore
Marc Calleo (Bayville, N.Y.) drove Hennelly home on a single.
In the fifth, F&M once again produced a two-out rally after a double play. The Diplomats smacked a double and then drew an intentional walk to set up a force but a single up the middle forced Marston out of the game and eventually gave F&M the Game One victory.
Sophomore
Gary Boardman (Staten Island, N.Y.) entered the game and tossed 3.1 innings of hitless relief for the Ducks. Boardman allowed two walks and struck out two batters in his outing. Marston was dealt the loss in 4.2 innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks. He also struck out three hitters.
Game Two: Stevens 3, F & M 2
Senior
Tyler Courter (Glenwood, N.J.) scattered four hits over eight innings to earn his third victory of the season. Courter allowed a single run in the second and seventh innings and punched out 11 batters with no walks. Over the eight innings, Courter retired the side in order six times. He only faced the minimum in the second and seventh frames and struck out the side once.
Junior
Dan Allen (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) earned his first save of the season with two strikeouts in the ninth. Allen also went 1-for-4 at the plate with a double and run scored.
The Ducks’ offense was held at bay for a majority of the game by F&M’s Sean Cosgriff until the seventh inning. In that frame, Stevens tallied all three of its runs in part to some shaky defense from the Diplomats. Cosgriff gave up just three hits over seven innings and struck out three more with one walk.
Allen doubled to lead off the inning and then moved up to third on a passed ball. The next two batters were retired but freshman
Tyler Bush (Bristol, Conn.) kept the inning alive by reaching base on a hit by pitch. Both runners moved up on another passed ball and then Bush came into score on a throw error on a groundball by sophomore
Ryan Mannello (Staten Island, N.Y.) to give the Ducks a 2-1 advantage. With Mannello standing on second base, Calleo stroked a single to right field which brought Mannello around for the third run of the inning.
The Diplomats would scratch another run in the seventh for an attempted comeback, but Courter sat down the final batter of the inning with a runner on third base.
Stevens will be back at home tomorrow for a single game against Yeshiva University at 12 p.m. The Ducks opened this season with a 13-1 victory over Yeshiva on February 20.